College football bowl game opt-outs have been a significant point of contention over the last eight years or so. There are a lot of people who hate how bowl season has become, in many ways, an exhibition period that serves as a glorified scrimmage.
Unfortunately, an injury to Clemson running back Will Shipley on Friday silenced the opt-out haters.
College football bowl opt-outs are a point of contention.
It all started with Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey’s decision to skip their bowl games in 2016 to protect their NFL Draft stock and it has only escalated from there. More and more college football players are choosing not to play in postseason games that do not lead to a national championship.
For example, Florida State is set to play the Orange Bowl without more than 50% of its two-deep depth chart. Texas A&M lost the Texas Bowl with 55 scholarship players. USC won the Holiday Bowl with 53.
The new reality of bowl season is a major bummer. Fans don’t like it. Schools that are forced to scramble and field a roster of backups don’t like it. Even some of the players don’t like it.
However, student-athletes do not owe anything to anyone but themselves. They should make the decision that is best for them as as individual— even if the haters don’t agree.
Will Shipley is an illustration of why players choose not to play.
The true junior ball-carrier was deciding between a return to the Tigers in 2024 and the NFL Draft and chose to play in the Gator Bowl while mulling his future in the sport. That decision cost him.
Shipley suffered a freakish, seemingly non-contact injury on a kickoff return in the fourth quarter. He was carted to the locker room.
Shipley came back out on crutches after the game.
The good news is that, should Shipley choose to return to the college ranks, he will have another season to showcase why he still deserve to be a Day 2 NFL Draft pick. He deserve to go in that range regardless.
The bad news is that, while nothing is confirmed at this point, it seems like he will have to spent a large chunk of the offseason rehabbing an injury.
Shipley deserves a lot of credit for going out there in a (pretty much meaningless) game. It is an admirable decision that he made for himself. He wanted to suit up with his brothers for what could be the last time of his three-year college career. That is commendable!
On the flip side, Shipley’s injury serves as an unfavorable and disappointing reminder of why college football players choose to opt-out of bowl games. It is to protect themselves and their futures.
That, too, should be commendable.